Colloquy Issue 11 May 2006 - Arts - Monash University

48Jennifer Ballengee░Lead me out of the way, useless man that I am, who killed you, myson, not by my own will, and you here too, ah, miserable one; I donot know which to look on, which way to lean; for all that is in myhands has gone awry, and fate hard to deal with has leapt upon myhead.άγοιτ’ αν μάταιον άνδρ’ εκποδών,ος, ω παι, σε τ’ ουχ εκών κατέκανονσε τ’ αυ τάνδ’, ώμοι μέλεος, ουδ’ έχωπρος πότερον ίδω, πα κλιθώ. πάντα γαρλέχρια ταν χεροίν, τα δ’ επί κρατί μοιπότμος δυσκόμιστος εισήλατο. (1339-46)As Griffith points out, Creon’s speech suggests a contrast between what isvisible (the dead bodies of Haemon and Eurydice) and what is invisible (themysterious but inescapable hand of fate). Creon’s struggle with seeingsuch a spectacle also puts an emphasis upon his pain in witnessing the resultsof his folly; thus Creon assumes the position of witness that theguards, chorus, and audience have previously occupied (and continue toperform in this scene). The spectacle of dead bodies before him forces himto bear witness to what they represent – in this case, his complicity in theirdeath. The accusation against Creon, then, is something that he witnessesalongside the others: embodied in the corpses of Haemon and Eurydiceare the signs of his guilt.Yet, as Antigone points out previously in the play, a dead body, beingdead, cannot bear witness (“The dead body will not bear witness to that [ουμαρτυρήσει ταύθ’ ο κατθανών νέκυς]” [515]). How, then, can a corpse deliveran accusation of guilt against another? For the corpse of Antigone, aswell as that of Haemon, Eurydice, and Polynices, it is the narrative surroundingthe corpse that communicates the meaning of it. In other words,the corpse alone does not convey the meaning, but something more embodiedin it does so. The sight of the dead body makes present a past life;the end of a life provides a frame for considering that life’s significance (asignificance that is worked through in mourning). However, as long as liferemains, as long as life continues to unfold, the ultimate fate or significanceof that life remains unknown. Ruing the fate of Creon, the messenger refersto this temporal distinction just before announcing Haemon’s death:“there is no state of human life that I would praise or blame as though it hadcome to a stop; for fortune makes straight and fortune brings down the fortunateor the unfortunate man at all times [ουκ έσθ’ οποίον στάντ’ ανανθρώπου βίον / ούτ’ αινέσαιμ’ αν ούτε μεμψαίμην ποτέ. / τύχη γαρ ορθοίκαι τύχη καταρρέπει / τον ευτυχούντα τον τε δυστυχούντ’ αεί]” (1156-9).